Cain cigars were launched in 2009 through a project led by Sam Leccia, among the more unorthodox/creative minds in the craft cigar industry. The project helped push the boundaries of “acceptable” strength levels—giving the flavor-crazed enthusiast exactly what they were craving… the cigar equivalent of “cranking it up to eleven!”
How? You ask. The answer is simple—craft the first premium cigar to utilize an all-ligero blend! Of the three primary classifications of tobacco primings (seco, viso, and ligero), ligero is the smallest and strongest. Because these leaves grow at the top of the plant, they receive the most sun. The tobacco plant then sends a healthy dose of oils and nutrients to protect the leaf as the sun beats down. Not only this, but ligero is generally the last leaf harvested, receiving additional nutrients from the plant. This makes ligero not only the strongest, but generally most flavorful leaf you’ll find.
The question then becomes: why hadn’t this been done sooner?! Patience, young grasshopper... As ligero is the most intense tobacco priming, it is also the thickest, and therefore slowest-burning leaf. Care and patience had to be taken to select ligero from the right regions and growing conditions, paired with the right fermentation process and rest—producing ligero tobacco sufficient for each portion of the cigar: wrapper, binder, and filler.
The end result is the famed Cain Straight Ligero by Studio Tobac—the world’s first ligero puro! There are various smoking experiences offered under the Cain line, though one factor remains constant: full body and FULL flavor!